Best Free Otter AI Alternatives in 2025 (I Tested 12)

Looking for free alternatives to Otter AI? I tested 12 different meeting transcription tools to find the best free options. Here are my findings after hundreds of hours of real-world testing.

Quick Answer: Best Free Otter AI Alternatives

The top 3 free alternatives to Otter AI are: 1) Microsoft Teams Live Captions (built-in, unlimited), 2) Fireflies AI (3 meetings per month), and 3) Fathom (unlimited meetings, 30 hours per month). Each offers unique advantages depending on your specific needs.

Why People Are Leaving Otter AI

Otter AI limited their free plan to just 300 minutes per month in 2024. That translates to roughly 5 hours of meetings - barely enough for most professionals. Plus, they removed several features from the free tier including speaker identification and custom vocabulary.

12 Free Otter AI Alternatives I Tested

1. Microsoft Teams Live Captions (Best Overall)

Microsoft Teams includes built-in live captions and transcription for all meetings. Since most companies already have Microsoft 365, this is essentially free for millions of users. The accuracy is surprisingly good, especially for English speakers.

Pros: Unlimited meetings, built-in to Teams, speaker identification, downloadable transcripts, supports 30+ languages

Cons: Only works with Teams meetings, requires Microsoft 365

Best for: Teams users who want unlimited free transcription

2. Fireflies AI (Best for Multi-Platform)

Fireflies offers 3 free meetings per month with full transcription, speaker identification, and AI summaries. The quality is excellent and it works with Zoom, Teams, Google Meet, and phone calls.

Pros: Works with all major platforms, AI summaries, action items detection, searchable transcripts

Cons: Only 3 meetings per month, 40-minute limit per meeting

Best for: People who need high-quality transcription across different platforms

3. Fathom (Best for Unlimited Meetings)

Fathom provides unlimited meetings with 30 hours of transcription per month. The AI-generated summaries are particularly good, and it integrates well with CRM systems.

Pros: Unlimited meetings, 30 hours per month, excellent summaries, CRM integration

Cons: Only works with Zoom, Google Meet, and Teams

Best for: Sales teams and heavy meeting users

4. Google Meet Live Captions

Google Meet includes free live captions, but transcription download requires Google Workspace. The captions are accurate for clear speakers but struggle with accents.

Pros: Built-in to Google Meet, real-time captions, supports multiple languages

Cons: No transcript download without Workspace, limited accuracy with accents

Best for: Google Meet users who only need live captions

5. Zoom Live Transcript

Zoom offers free live transcription, but saving transcripts requires a paid plan. The accuracy is decent for clear audio, but it lacks speaker identification.

Pros: Built-in to Zoom, real-time transcription, multiple languages

Cons: Cannot save transcripts on free plan, no speaker ID

Best for: Zoom users who only need live viewing of transcripts

6. Sembly AI

Sembly offers 4 hours of transcription per month on their free plan. The AI summaries are comprehensive, and it includes action item extraction.

Pros: 4 hours per month, excellent AI summaries, action items, works with major platforms

Cons: Limited monthly quota, requires bot invitation to meetings

Best for: Teams who want detailed AI-generated meeting summaries

7. Tldv

Tldv provides 20 recordings per month with full transcription and AI summaries. It also includes video recording, which sets it apart from audio-only solutions.

Pros: 20 meetings per month, video recording, timestamps, multi-language support

Cons: Requires browser extension, some platforms not supported

Best for: Teams who want both video recording and transcription

8. Grain (Now HubSpot)

Grain was acquired by HubSpot and offers limited free transcription. The focus is more on video highlights than full transcription.

Pros: Video highlights, good for sales teams, CRM integration

Cons: Very limited free tier, focused on sales use cases

Best for: HubSpot users in sales roles

9. Rev AI

Rev offers 5 hours of free transcription per month through their API. However, this requires technical setup and is not user-friendly for non-developers.

Pros: 5 hours per month, high accuracy, API access

Cons: Requires technical setup, no meeting integration

Best for: Developers who want to build custom solutions

10. Whisper.cpp (OpenAI Whisper)

OpenAI Whisper can be run locally for completely free transcription. It requires technical knowledge but offers unlimited usage and strong privacy.

Pros: Completely free, unlimited usage, runs offline, excellent accuracy

Cons: Requires technical setup, no real-time transcription

Best for: Technical users who prioritize privacy and unlimited usage

11. Deepgram

Deepgram offers 200 dollars in free credits monthly, which translates to about 20 hours of transcription. Like Rev, it requires API integration.

Pros: Generous free tier, excellent accuracy, real-time capabilities

Cons: API only, requires development work

Best for: Developers building transcription applications

12. AssemblyAI

AssemblyAI provides 5 hours of free transcription monthly via their API. The accuracy is excellent, particularly for technical content.

Pros: 5 hours per month, excellent for technical content, speaker diarization

Cons: API only, requires technical implementation

Best for: Developers who need technical content transcription